Exec producer Stephen McCrum said that from the very beginning it was vital the comedy "got the spirit" of the army absolutely right.

"The one thing that came across with our early research was that it was really important to these people that we treated this world with respect," said McCrum.

"They take their professional lives very seriously. We made absolutely clear that these people are engaging in a serious and dangerous job and are doing it with great professionalism.

"That was the first thing we wanted to get across. We wanted it to be as authentic as we could. The important thing was to show the humanity and spirit of the piece."

McCrum admitted that there had been some complaints when BBC Three boss Zai Bennett announced the show, but revealed that he had contacted upset parties personally.

"The complaints were from people involved in the military and one of them had lost their child in Afghanistan," he said.

"But once we had explained what we were trying to do, they actually became very helpful to us. We learnt a lot from them. Once we said that we were trying to show the lives of the human beings who do the work, they came on board and were incredibly helpful."

BBC Three's Zai Bennett believes the series "complements" documentaries about army life such as Our War, which BBC Three has previously aired.

Writer James Cary (Miranda) said: "We wanted something that soldiers would look at and go, 'Yeah, that's what it's like', within the realms of a comedy show.

"We wanted it to be truthful. We didn't want people saying, 'Oh that's wrong' from details of uniform to general tone. Not least because that makes it more funny."

The show used the services of former army Ammunition Technical Officer Liam Fitzgerald-Finch, who believes that soldiers will be impressed with how realistic the series looks, describing it as "exceptionally authentic".

Exec McCrum added: "I don't care what people think about this show except that they see the humanity. All the people I've met during research for this show are incredible.

"They are an exceptional bunch of people. The least we could do was show that respect on screen. What I hope is that the squaddies watch the show and can see that it's truthful to their experience."